Even in a traditionally action-packed month of chess, Qatar Masters stood out for the presence of Carlsen and Nakamura. Ultimately, neither managed to carry the massive prize close to the sandy dunes, because the Norwegian put up one in every of his worst performances in a very long time, giving approach to a brand new era of gamers to safe the prize.
Finally, the event was settled between two Uzbek kids, who coincidentally shared a primary identify, too. 19-year-old Nodirbek Abdusattorov, #28 on the planet rankings, fell quick within the tiebreaks in opposition to 21-year-old compatriot Nodirbek Yakubboev, who was ranked at #118 heading into the distinguished event.
Hikaru Nakamura, nonetheless chasing a spot within the subsequent Candidates Event, and with it, a chance to problem for the world chess championship title, ended the event in seventh place with a rating of 6.5/9, simply half a degree wanting the 2 event leaders. He nonetheless misplaced just a few ranking factors alongside the way in which, marginally damaging his probabilities within the race for Candidates qualification, however nothing to an extent that might danger his place within the race with Alireza Firouzja, the French teenager who’s additionally gunning for the rating-based invitation spot.
On the floor, Carlsen’s ninth-place end with six factors wouldn’t appear that devastating within the discipline of 158 gamers, however if you’re peerless within the Elo rankings, a displaying like it will price you 17.2 of your treasured factors. A efficiency ranking of 2650, far beneath the Norwegian’s 2827 reside rating, is a testomony to how a lot he struggled—or how little he cared—concerning the event.
Whereas the Norwegian has clearly proven that he can nonetheless outdo the very best in classical time management ought to he actually put his thoughts to it (as evidenced by his World Cup win to lastly get the ultimate massive trophy that’s been lacking from his assortment), he’s put up a number of stinkers by his requirements in slower time controls, like his winless run at Norway Chess earlier this year. Couple this with yet another cheating-related drama, and this has been an occasion to neglect for Carlsen and his followers alike, even when he continues to dominate the competitors in quicker time controls.
Subsequent up: the FIDE Grand Swiss Event. With the world’s 100 highest-rated gamers and some different nominees invited to take part in an 11-round brawl with little margin for error, the highest two finishers of the event will instantly punch their ticket to the Candidates Event. Whether or not both of the Nodirbeks can one-up their spectacular efficiency in Qatar will probably be one of many primary storylines of the occasion. Carlsen, in fact, gained’t be there on the Isle of Man: having abdicated his classical world chess championship title in 2022, he nonetheless reveals no real interest in reclaiming the throne he’s vacated, irrespective of the pretenders.
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